Skipper Tyrrell inspired by top Cats of the past

JACKIE TYRRELL may not be exactly sure of which position he will fill in Sunday’s Guinness All-Ireland hurling championship final against Cork, but he has a very clear understanding of his role as Kilkenny captain.

And, while it doesn’t put him under any extra pressure, he’s very much aware of the many great captains who have gone before him and conscious of his responsibility to live up to their standard.

“I’m honoured to be captain. I don’t see my role being much different to what it was before, but you would feel the butterflies when you know the All-Ireland is close! We have great leaders in the dressing room. JJ Delaney may be injured but he’ll be there driving us on,’’ he says.

“Peter Barry was captain last year and a brilliant leader for us — and still for the club (James Stephens). I still look up to him and seek his advice. He has helped me a lot on and off the field.’’

Tyrrell knows several of the Cork players well, the likes of Brian Murphy, John Gardiner and Kieran Murphy, with whom he studied in CIT a few years ago. He knows how good they are, as well as appreciating how serious they are about their hurling. But on Sunday, friendships will have to be put on hold.

Tyrrell also studied in LIT, where he won a Fitzgibbon Cup medal with the team managed by Davy Fitzgerald. And, like so many players who have come through the third level system, Tyrrell acknowledges the benefits it brought to his hurling.

“It was very beneficial. In the winter, when the hurling winds down, it keeps you on our toes. And it helps to keep fitness levels up. Davy Fitzgerald put a lot of emphasis on running and it definitely helped me coming into pre-season with Kilkenny. We were nearly that step ahead of the others fitness-wise.’’

Like every aspiring young hurler in the county, he was inspired watching Kilkenny in All-Ireland finals. He remembered being on the Hill for the 1991 final with his father, when Tipperary were inspired by the goal scored by Michael Cleary (“from a mishit free’’). He saw Kilkenny also go under in 1999 (to Cork) before winning three of the next four titles.

These games fuelled an ambition to represent Kilkenny at senior level, and it was realised after Brian Cody invited him into the squad in 2003. When he got the call, he says he jumped at the chance. Now, as he looks ahead to Sunday’s final, he stresses the sense of urgency within the squad to be successful.

“We want this badly,’’ he says.

“We got beaten in the last two years. That seems a long time in Kilkenny without an All-Ireland!’’

With Mayo’s success on Sunday underlining the value of regular competition, Tyrrell accepts that Kilkenny weren’t really tested until they came up against Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final. Then again, that was hardly a problem of their making.

“In Leinster we can only beat what’s put in front of us,’’ he remarks.

“Although the (Leinster) final was a bit one-sided, you have only to look to two years before that, when Wexford overturned us.

“I wouldn’t say it’s totally one-sided in Leinster. There’s a flip side to competing in the Munster championship, in that you have to peak for the first round. If you don’t, you’re in the qualifiers and anything can happen there. It works both ways.’’

Talk of the Kilkenny backs and being stretched for periods against Clare invariably came around to talk of JJ Delaney and his absence from the final owing to injury. Tyrrell says that while he is irreplaceable, his loss is someone else’s gain.

“One thing Brian (Cody) has stressed all year long is the strength of our panel. It’s going to be someone else’s chance to come in and prove himself. I think the strength of the panel is really showing now. We’ll be confident going in against Cork that we’ll be fairly secure.’’

Nevertheless, while there may be a feeling that the best is yet to come from the team, he accepts that a big improvement is called for. The bottom line is that he doubts if any of their performances up to now would be sufficient to topple the champions.

“Cork are a class team. They’re not going for three-in-a-row for nothing. We’re all going to have to hurl and hopefully the subs who come in will do their job too.

“In the last 20 minutes when the game is there to be won, Cork always seem to be able to do it. They’re very strong for that period. It’s something we have looked at. We’re really going to have to drive it on. That’s when the game is there to be won.

“Cork have been around for a while. We are really going to have to be up for it.’’